No, it’s not that Taylor Swift yearns to be a “tradwife.” A lot of you are being very weird! I digress, though.
I’m what the layperson would definitely call a “Swiftie,” to be clear. I was fortunate enough to see the Eras Tour twice, and Swift’s massive catalog of music has, if I can be vulnerable for a split second, helped guide me through some pretty cruddy times by making me feel less alone. Still, I was a little confused by Swift’s “The Release Party of a Showgirl” cinematic event; I wasn’t confused enough to skip it, but I had little to no idea what to expect going in. As I watched one of the most lauded and famous musicians in history tell us about her latest album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” I was most struck by the behind-the-scenes footage from Swift’s first music video of this new era, “The Fate of Ophelia,” a song that also serves as the album opener and first single.
Unfortunately, Swift did launch her directorial career with the video for “Me!,” her much-maligned first single from her 2019 album “Lover,” but the video was much better than the song itself, in my opinion … and, thankfully, things got much better from there. After helming videos like “The Man” (also from “Lover”), “cardigan” from her 2020 Grammy-winning album of the year “folklore,” and “willow” from that album’s sister “evermore,” it became pretty clear that Swift, who’s been in the entertainment industry since she was a teenager, has a good eye for cinematic images and has learned quite a lot from collaborators like Joseph Kahn (who directed some of her most famous and beloved music videos, like “Delicate” from “reputation” and “Blank Space” from “1989”). All of this is to say: If we consider her potential future as a feature film director (and she does still have a deal with Searchlight), then “The Release Party of a Showgirl” proves that we could get a pretty good movie.
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Taylor Swift’s music video work bodes well for her potential film directing career
Taylor Swift singing with her backup dancers on a ship during the Fate of Ophelia music video – Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift isn’t the first person to direct and write her own music videos, but the look at the making of “The Fate of Ophelia” is one of the biggest glimpses we’ve gotten into her actual artistic process, aside from the snippets of her 2020 documentary “Miss Americana” focusing on the aforementioned “Me!” music video and, of course, videos about the making of her genuinely good 2021 short film “All Too Well,” which adapts her masterpiece of a 10-minute song into a story featuring Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien. Not only does Swift seemingly approve every single thing that happens on the set (she notes that, throughout rehearsals, she spent time on-set without her dancers and backup singers, going over lighting tests and other technical aspects with the crew), but she also smartly surrounds herself with true industry veterans. Mandy Moore, a choreographer who worked on “La La Land” and Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” number at the Oscars as well as Swift’s Eras Tour, was on set for “The Fate of Ophelia,” though the more astounding presence here was definitely director of photography Rodrigo Prieto.
To be clear, Prieto has collaborated with Swift before; he also worked on “The Man,” “cardigan,” “willow,” and 2024’s “Fortnight,” a collaboration with Post Malone that helped introduce Swift’s 11th album “The Tortured Poets Department” (with Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles appearing in the video as well). Prieto has also served as the DP on movies like “Barbie,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” and “Killers of the Flower Moon.” He is, unquestionably, one of the most interesting cinematographers working today, and not only is he choosing to work with Swift, she’s actively seeking him out.
Swift is undeniably smart, and I think it’s a good sign that, for her “mini-movies,” she’s surrounding herself with experts in filmmaking and allowing herself to learn more and more about the process. The specificity and care with which she approaches the making of her music videos is apparent in this featurette; multiple times, she redoes a shot so that she can “make it perfect,” striving for the best artistic output. That speaks to the enduring power of Swift as a creative.
Ask Taylor Swift why so many fade, but she’s still here
Taylor Swift seen through a buoy in the music video for The Fate of Ophelia – Taylor Swift
If you’ve been alive and aware over the past 10 to 15 years, you know that living through Taylor Swift backlash is a part of life, like death, taxes, and burning the roof of your mouth on a cup of hot coffee because you didn’t get enough sleep and can’t wait for it to cool down. Back in 2017, everyone hated “reputation,” and if you fast-forward to May 2025, Swifties were crushed when, after Swift repurchased her master recordings, she revealed she hadn’t even re-recorded a quarter of “reputation.” As she says in her song “Karma” (from her 2022 album of the year winner “Midnights”), “ask me why so many fade, but I’m still here.”
I think I have the answer. There’s no question that Swift is a capitalist, but she’s also a passionate artist doing this for the love of the game. (Yes, she releases a lot of vinyl variants, but so does every other artist — plus, record stores have, well, gone on record saying that Swift’s sales basically pay their rent, so I can’t even be that mad about it.) Swift loves her work, and she also loves the work of others; she pays homage to Busby Berkeley, famous stage actor Sarah Bernhardt, and, of course, William Shakespeare throughout the video for “The Fate of Ophelia.” Get mad at her for making an unholy amount of money from her music alone all you want, but I’m imploring people to also reckon with the fact that Swift loves what she does, loves film and television, and loves the process of creation.
During the press tour for “The Life of a Showgirl,” Swift spoke with Scott Mills for BBC 2 and was informed that fans are worried that this will be her final album because of her impending wedding to NFL star Travis Kelce. Swift, characteristically, addressed this head on. “A shockingly offensive thing to say,” she replied (via People). “That’s not why people get married — so they can quit their job.” Swift isn’t going to stop creating, she’s always going to be hyper-involved in the process, and if she finds the time, she is going to end up directing a feature film. I, for one, think we have reasons to get excited about what worlds and fantasies Swift could bring to the screen.
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